A new image-guided navigation system designed to bring life-saving emergency neurosurgical care to settings where no specialist is available continues to gain international attention. The innovation under development at Carle Illinois College of Medicine (CI MED) will equip general surgeons to quickly stabilize patients experiencing fluid build-up on the brain until they can be transported for specialized care. MD/PhD candidate Al Smith presented his Atlas system to an international panel of judges at the prestigious Prototypes for Humanity Annual Meeting in Dubai.
“This is our fourth international presentation. This shows immense interest in our device, and given the mission of Prototypes for Humanity, it is a testament to the urgent need for improved access to emergency care that Atlas can provide,” Smith said.
Traumatic brain injury, hydrocephalus, stroke, and brain tumors can all cause fluid build-up under the skull, increasing the pressure on the brain. Neurosurgeons typically treat this medical emergency by installing an external ventricular drain to relieve the pressure. It’s a delicate and precise procedure that is often delayed when no neurosurgeon is available, especially in remote and rural areas.
Atlas is specifically designed to equip general surgeons to fill gaps in neurosurgical care. Smith’s solution consists of an articulated arm that attaches to the patient’s skull. Coupled with a graphical user interface, mapping software, and 3D navigation, the system guides general surgeons through the steps of properly placing an external ventricular drain. In testing, such real-time image-guided systems have proven 95% accurate in placement, compared to 40% accuracy for freehand navigation.
Smith is confident that Atlas could help meet a crucial global need. “Each year, millions of individuals suffer a traumatic brain injury that could benefit from surgical intervention. We have identified that the majority of the world population would not receive access to the appropriate neurological stabilization within four hours of the inciting event. Even in the USA, approximately 2/3 of hospital systems do not have access to neurosurgical care, and outcomes for patients in these settings are far worse than those in higher-resource settings,” he said.
Prototypes for Humanity is a group of scholars and inventors from 800 universities worldwide who support emerging solutions that address global issues. The annual pitch competition provides a platform for innovators who are developing prototypes and piloting models to solve pressing global social and environmental challenges. The prize pool for the 2025 competition was $100,000.
Smith’s team has begun testing on anatomical donors (cadavers), and he hopes to approach the Food and Drug Administration about plans for in-human evaluation of the system sometime next year. Earlier this year, he applied to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a patent.
Smith’s team won second place and $60K in investment at the Global Health Innovation Grand Challenge Pitch competition last spring. Smith was also awarded a prestigious fellowship from the National Institutes of Health to support his research and development work while completing his studies in the MD/PhD program at CI MED.
The research group – which includes CI MED student Prateek Dullur and alumnus Dr. Anant Naik – is the third team from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to be chosen to present a solution at the Prototypes for Humanity annual meeting, the most recent being in 2019. CI MED student Liz Spurlock assisted with body donor testing.